IRL Adventures| That Time I Went to a Maid Cafe

Hello, hellooooo~ Hello my BAYOG lovelies!~ Minty here, back with an IRL Adventure story~ As you can tell from the title, today I’ll be talking about the time I went to a maid cafe!

As you know, a maid cafe is a themed cafe. Obviously it’s maid themed. The staff dress up in maid outfits, and play the role/character of being the customer’s maid. They’re typically super cute and sweet. They’ll greet and refer to customers as their “Master”. It’s all about that moe life.

Maid cafes have appeared in anime, mangas, and dramas. They’re popular and well-known in the Akihabara area too. After all, male otakus are usually the main target audience for maid cafes.

Working at a maid cafe isn’t really like your typical server or customer service gig. The staff play their maid characters well. You have to exude happy and moe vibes. You gotta be super cute. As a restaurant brat and veteran restaurant server, I can tell you that it’s alot of patience and training. Yes, the staff are trained well for their roles. In a way, they’re also like idols. They sometimes have to also sing and dance. Sometimes there are events too. Some even have songs and videos released!

Was going on a maid cafe on the -TOP- of my bucket list? Nah. However, it was one of those “I wanna try going at least once” kind of things. I finally had my chance in 2015. I was back in the motherland in 2015 (Thailand, if y’all didn’t know). I was supposed to meet up with my aunt and uncle (mom’s cousins who are respectively 4 and 6 years older than me). I took my first solo trip on the BTS (Bangkok Train System) and wandered around the MBK Shopping Center as I waited. So if you didn’t know MBK is one of the largest and most popular shopping centers in Bangkok, Thailand. Anyway, as I was wandering about, I noticed a girl dressed up as a maid. She was handing out flyers. Then it suddenly clicked. “HOLY SHIT. IT’S AN ACTUAL MAID CAFE. WTF?? なに???!!!!”

This was actually a Maidreamin maid cafe too. Which if you didn’t know, is one of the most famous and largest maid cafes in Japan. Apparently, it had just opened that branch right there in Bangkok, Thailand. I low-key wanted to go. However, I was a bit shy (introverted as hell) and didn’t want to go alone. I was also worried about time. I felt bad too. These girls were trying really hard to get people to come in. However, people just ignored them, and the shop was super empty. I remember I kept walking around and passing by them. Each time I passed by, the more awful I felt for them, and the more I wished I could go to give them a bit of support.

Well…That came true. I dragged my aunt and uncle at MBK to make them do an escape game with me. After we finished, we passed by Maidreamin. Actually, it was only like a couple shops down from the escape room place. My aunt saw it and was like, “Is…is that a maid??” My uncle, who is a huge otaku himself, said “OH! YEAH! IT’S A MAID CAFE!” My aunt was like “WTF??” So I explained it to her. I then somehow convinced them to go in. Actually, it wasn’t hard to convince my uncle. We shared that weeb camaraderie. My aunt was skeptical, and extremely confused. It was a huge culture shock to her lulz.

We could tell that this was something more for the guys to be excited about. So it was a bit awkward for my aunt, especially because she ain’t about that moe life. She finds cutesy stuff cringy most of the time. Me? I’m an otaku, and I love cute shit. Our maid was super sweet. They caught on to me speaking fluent American English with my aunt and uncle. Y’all bilingual/multilingual kids know what I mean. Where you just keep switching between languages and all. I speak Thai fluently, but I get really nervous when I’m in Thailand. So I usually default mostly to English. Although I also just tend to mix the languages. One sentence in Thai, another in English. So I caught their attention. They thought I was a foreigner. So they tried to speak to me in English and asked me where I was from. I explained to them that I was from the US, and that they could speak to me in Thai if they liked. I thought it was cute they were making an effort to make me feel comfortable.

They were all super sweet and cute. They explained everything very well to us. Sadly, I don’t have many pictures. They had a strict no photography policy at the time. You could take pictures of the food and things, but not of the maids. More on that later. However, I think they’ve now allowed it now? Anyways, my weeb ass knew what to expect. It was just fun to go along with everything. There’s alot of cute sayings and gestures required. You can’t just call for the maid or raise your hand. You have to raise up both hands, do little kitty paws with your fists, and go “nyan nyan”. You also can’t just dig into your food. You have to do certain moe gestures and sayings along with the maid. It’s a spell to make the food taste better. I was super into it. Not to brag, but I have hella aegyo/moe in my family. This was a piece of cake for me. It’s basically my expertise~

My aunt on the other hand, doesn’t usually like that kind of stuff. She finds it cringy. My aunt was like “WTF??” when they put cat ears on us. So my aunt looked like she was dying inside LOLOLOL. My uncle was like :3 He was enjoying it. My aunt was like, “Don’t tell his girlfriend.” She already knew she had a hella weeb. I tagged her in our photos and she thought it was hilarious. However, my aunt ended up really enjoying herself. She ended up getting more comfortable and going along with everything.

I was the most excited and cooperative guest LOL. It was fun and cute though! I loved how sweet everyone was. I also just enjoy making my aunt cringe. Not gonna lie, the food was just aiight. However, it looked cute. It was adorable to see them try drawing on our food. The menu also had a special order section too. You could order a special song and dance. You could also place an order to take a picture with your favorite maid, and receive a souvenir. That’s the one I went for. Go big or go home right? I figured I was gonna try to make the most of the experience. I got to take a cute polaroid with Chocolla. She was super sweet. She asked me “Which maid would you like to take a picture with?~” When I said, “Can I take it with you?~ :3” She was really cute and surprised about it. She also decorated the polaroid too~ Surprisingly, my maid found my IG post of it too lol.

Again, I’ll be honest. Visiting a maid cafe can pretty expensive. The food was cute, but aiight. However, you’re paying for the fun experience. The girls really do a fun and fantastic job of entertaining the customers. Sure, it may seem like a really way-out-there kind of thing to do. Maybe a bit cringey and awkward if you’re not into cutesy stuff or the moe life. Still, it was a worth it experience. It was fun. I honestly wouldn’t mind going again. I’d actually take more pictures next time. Actually, I want to go with the BAYOG Bros LOLOL. Let me know if the bros and I should go to a maid cafe together, and maybe even vlog it! Who wants to see Kenny, Nick, Marc, and Loha live that moe life?!~ @blackandyellowog @rokutsu @cmdrcluckcluck @loheezy LEGGOOOOOOO!!!~~

If you want to really see what the maid cafe experience is like, I’d recommend watching this vlog! It’s by some popular YouTubers in Thailand. It’s at the same Maidreamin maid cafe I went to at MBK! It’s kind of long, but hilarious. Don’t speak Thai? No worries, there are English subtitles!